Tighter screening at seminaries is…part of the solution, according to diocesan officials. Catching problems before they become priests is crucial, and seminaries are now thrust onto the front lines of that fight.

While seminaries have always been for young men to discern whether or not they’ve been called to the priesthood by God, it is also a time for the church to be discerning.

“Who is this man? Is he a healthy individual? Is he balanced?,” said Bishop Ronald Gainer of the Harrisburg diocese.

Gainer says the process to priesthood is now radically different than when he was a seminarian. Most notably there’s a full battery of psychological testing prior to admittance.

“We are eliminating candidates that should never be in the seminary,” Gainer said, adding that in his day seminarians who simply obeyed the rules would become priests.

There’s now intense scrutiny and testing after admittance including peer reviews from fellow seminarians.